Tuesday, April 15, 2008

If ever you feel that you're having a bad day, consider the plight of Nicholas White.

White was working late and decided to take a smoke break. After he finished his break, he got back into one of the elevators in the building and pressed the button for the 43rd floor. He would remain trapped in that elevator for the next 41 hours unable to escape and with precious little to occupy his mind.

I've been reading a book called The Black Swan whose major thesis is that a certain category of rare event can have a disproportional impact. White's case seems to be one such "black swan". Getting trapped in an elevator for nearly two solid days was something that was impossible to anticipate but the impact on his life was enormous. Traumatized by the event, he essentially quit his job, engaged in an ill-advised attempt to litigate for damages (which yielded only a pittance) and has been mainly unemployed for nearly fifteen years since then.

Of course, one could argue that he should have shaken the experience off, or that another person may have been able to cope better, or that the choices he made, after the event, were unwise, but the fact remains that if he had called in sick that day, or if the elevator had been maintained better, or if security had been more observant about monitoring the security cameras in the elevators, or if he had simply taken a different elevator, the course of his life would have been profoundly different than what it was.

It is a paradox that we all face. A prudent person tries to plan for the future but the very essence of the future is that it is unpredictable and that a single event can render any amount of planning moot.

Monday, April 14, 2008

Sunday, April 13, 2008

The Shakers were an odd religious group by even the standards of most of the utopian movements of the 19th century (and believe me, there were quite a lot of odd ducks in that group). They are most well known for their absolute prohibition on sexual intercourse, which is even more remarkable given the longevity of the group which managed to last well over a century via the acquisition of new converts (indeed, you can still find the occasional neo-Shaker).

Beyond the celibacy edict, however, the Shakers had other interesting and unusual traits. Above is an example of Shaker glossographia, which is the written version of glossolalia (aka "speaking in tongues") which should be familiar to anyone whose had any exposure to Pentecostalism (which is, arguably, the last and most successful of the Protestant Utopian movements).

Ubuweb Ethnopoetics has a good collection of Shaker glossographics. While I, of course, don't believe that there's anything genuinely divine in their compositions, I find it interesting to contemplate the ecstatic states of mind that led to their creation.

Wednesday, April 09, 2008

I suspect that, much like Snakes on a Plane, the title of Zombie Strippers really does say everything that you need to know in order to make an informed choice about whether or not this movie is right for you.

Tuesday, April 08, 2008

As a follow-up to the Blade Runner pants post, here's a list of great science fiction titles that I've "pantsed" up.

20,000 Leagues Under the Pants2001: A Pants OdysseyA Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's PantsA Deepness in the PantsA Fire Upon the PantsA Wrinkle in PantsBrave New PantsChildhood's PantsDo Androids Dream of Electric Pants?Ender's PantsFoundation and PantsHave Pants, Will TravelHitch Hiker's Guide to the PantsI, PantsJourney to the Center of the PantsLucifer's PantsMake Pants! Make Pants!More than PantsPants for AlgernonPants for LeibowitzPants of the GalaxyPants on ZanzibarPants Out of JointPants PlusRendezvous With PantsRing Around the PantsSpeaker for the PantsStarship PantsStranger in Strange PantsThe Demolished PantsThe Door into PantsThe Forever PantsThe Invisible PantsThe Left Pants-leg of DarknessThe Lost PantsThe Man in the High PantsThe Pants Are a Harsh MistressThe Pants DysfunctionThe Pants in God's EyeThe Pants Look UpThe Pants My DestinationThe Pants of GodThe Pants of ParadiseThe Pants of SteelThe Pants ThemselvesThe Shadow of the PantsThe Stainless Steel PantsThe Three Pants of Palmer EldritchThe War of the PantsTime Enough for PantsTo Your Scattered Pants GoUse of Pants

Fantasy Bonus:

Lord of the PantsThe Fellowship of the PantsThe Two PantsThe Return of the Pants

Andrew Lias

Originally a Precambrian paramecium, I have recently hitched myself up by my cilia and have made substantial progress with my phenotype. Rumors that I have "slept my way up the evolutionary ladder" are without foundation.